Your Right to Know

WASHINGTON — U.S. lawmakers expressed concern about China’s territorial ambitions at a
confirmation hearing yesterday for the nominee for the U.S. ambassadorship to China, and they urged
him to take a tough line with Beijing.

Sen. Max Baucus, President Barack Obama’s choice for the post, told a Senate hearing he would do
all he could to reduce tensions between China and its neighbors, and he said he would follow a “
cautious” approach with Beijing.

Baucus, of Montana, said he agrees with an assessment by Republican Sen. John McCain that China
is trying to reassert its historical position as the dominant power in Asia.

McCain said China’s construction and acquisition of an aircraft carrier was “a statement of a
desire to project power” that should worry the United States.

Beijing’s declaration of an air-defense identification zone in an area that includes disputed
islands triggered protests last month from Japan, South Korea and the United States, which said
that China was trying to change the status quo in the East China Sea.

“The role that China is playing in Asia today should be of great concern to all of us,” McCain
said.

“I don’t disagree with you,” Baucus replied, adding that the United States should “hope for the
best and assume the worst.”

“I am a realist, believe me, and I understand the version of Chinese history that you have just
espoused; there is a hard ring of truth to it,” Baucus said in response to McCain, who advocates an
assertive U.S. foreign policy.

Baucus expressed concern about the “delicate relationship” between China and Japan, in which
miscalculation could easily result in “a major problem.”

Although the Senate hearing was not always smooth, with Baucus at one point acknowledging that
he is “no real expert on China,” his nomination is widely expected to be approved. The Senate
Foreign Relations Committee is likely to vote on Baucus’ confirmation as early as Tuesday.